The City of Joy
by spadetje
Summary: Keele and Meredy are different when Reid and Farah revisit a year after the Orbus is destroyed.
1. i nostalgia

**Author: **spadetje  
**Rating: **R  
**Disclaimer: **They belong to Namco, as if they would care I suppose.  
**Description:** Keele is different when Reid and Farah revisit a year after the Orbus is destroyed  
**A/N: **This is a rather different story than I usually write. Tales of Desinty 2 was a lovely game, almost as good as the first.

This is a break from my FF7 turk fics I've been lovin' lately. Why my themes are so alcohol/drugs/insanity based, I don't know. Maybe I should stop listening to hardcore trance while I write. I dunno. I'm silly.  
Visiting old friends can prove to be interesting :P

"_You can be my bad boy, be my man..  
__Be my weekend lover but don't be my friend."  
__- Happyhardcore Dj Paul!_

………………………………………………………………………………………

Slapping controls on the Van Elita, the two sailors bustled around the vacant bridge trying to guide the ship in the desired direction - which was uncertain in either mind.

The redhead at the con stopped for a moment, stretching palms across his eyes. Weather worn fingers clenched fallen red tufts in memory-failing frustration. "My _god,_ Jini! I haven't been to Celestia in over a year..."

"Last place I'd expect Keele Ziebel to be is in the city of joy." His dark haired, dark eyed companion snorted and raised an eyebrow. "Maybe he's decking out in that fantastic bookstore they've got. He probably didn't even notice the casino."

Reid grunted in response, but was staring at the GPS in his hand intensely. He swerved the ship to the right violently and gave it a quick half. "I THINK this is about where the entrance was. Holy, it's been a while."

"Yeah, well I'm going to anchor the ship while you decide."

He let Farah leave to the deck as he stared out the window, the late sun giving a strange orangey glow as usual. It really had been a year since Keele decided to stay in Celestia with Meredy while Farah and himself left for their homes. The four had kept in contact for the first few months but eventually had just faded apart.

It was strange how you could be so close, in so many strange and frightening situations with a friend and somehow let them slip away...but to a city of booze and gambling? He couldn't picture his bookworm genius buddy Keele living a life of Jini partying. The thought was almost comical, most definitely untrue even though living a year with Meredy could probably do anything to one.

On the top deck he found Farah with the anchor pulled to the side of the ship, pulling with every ounce of strength in her. He grinned and ambled up beside her to help out, but his assistance was rejected by a shout of pride.

"Piss off man, I got it."

He almost laughed at the sight of her; skinny arms and sweaty black hair flopping around like that. Her mouth was driven into an expression of tension, smooth red lips almost pouting, and her dark brown eyes - glaring at him in that playful I-don't-need-anyone's-help familiar way she always had and he realized how much he actually missed a year without her.

Standing up with defeat, Farah crossed her arms and smirked. "Alright, muscle-man, do your magic."

Lifting the anchor easily, but not as easily as he had done all those times last year he wondered about his physique. He had still maintained a working lifestyle back in Infernia, taking a construction job loading materials to the Bridge for the rebuilding of Imen, but that wasn't anything like the intense battles with Nereid.

He had noted, as they made their way to the Aifish, that Farah was still in very good shape, perhaps better as she was before. Her black hair had grown down to her shoulders now and gave her a much older look.

"Wow, these are even more garbage than I expected," Farah shrugged and opened the latch to an Aifish and hopped in, "but I guess they'll have to do eh?"

The four Aifish they had used were still intact, however two were broken from Chat's year of traveling. She had decided to explore every square inch of both oceans, and doing so left them lucky with the two remaining still functional.

The trip to Jini was uneventful - luckily they had been right at the GPS spot, right on in fact. As they approached the opening to Jini, Reid noticed by the dark orange sky that it was almost nighttime. At least there would be people to ask where Keele and Meredy were.

As they docked the Aifish to the Jini port, Reid could hear the loud music and hundreds of people roaming the city streets in a choir of partier's lifestyles. Lights shone from every building - the most illuminated was Jini's worldwide famous Casino and coming in for a close second was the fancy Dancehall. Broke and wasted bums littered the streets, begging passerby's for extra Jini, however all they ever got were broken or empty liquor bottles.

"So..." Reid watched Farah scan the city and start to head off toward the Inn and followed.

Everything seemed to be like they had remembered, the day last year the four had stumbled across the opening underwater - above Imen, and had walked into the empty, boring day-life of Jini. During the light hours, the city was vacant; everyone slept during the day and moped around with a terrible hangover. The only person awake was the Innkeeper who would give them a spare room to relax until the party started.

So there they were. Two-short, and standing in the same spot they had one year ago. Reid stood beside Farah while she tried to get information out of the Innkeeper, scratching his head as he looked around the Inn. A large man behind him kept pushing him aside as if he was trying to see past Farah.

"Shove off man, I'm ahead of you." Reid glared at him as he stepped closer to the counter and tuned into Farah and the Innkeeper's conversation.

"Hey, have you seen anyone by the name of Keele Ziebel?" Farah was asking the Innkeeper as he glanced behind her at the few people standing in line behind her disdainfully, "he's got dark hair, kinda shy...y'know, the book-type?"

The man sighed and looked at her. "Book-type? I think you've got the wrong city, baby. Now I've got a line behind you, so if you wouldn't mind..."

Exiting the Inn, Reid crossed his arms, taking the live scenery in doubtfully. "Maybe he really isn't here."

Farah shrugged, "Chat seemed sure that he was. That she had seen him here a few weeks ago. Let's just look around."

As the two made their way toward the bookstore, their path was interrupted by the large, fancy doors of the Dancehall opening with a clang, and a loud male followed by a quick female bursting out into the lit streets.

They knew who it was before he had even turned around. Laughing like a hysteric, the dark-haired male tilted his head back and took a long swig of the alcohol he'd been swinging around in his hand and turned to his female friend.

"HAHA, the Dance Master can kiss my skinny ass!" He swiftly pitched the empty bottle into the air and didn't watch it land and crash on the top of a nearby house. "We fuckin' rip up the dancefloor, baby!"

The Celestian beside him giggled loudly and jumped into him in an embracing hug, wrapping her arms around his neck and squealing as he flipped her around in a dance-style parody.

"Baiba! Let's get out of this silly spotlight dancin' and make it to the casino."

The two ran off, laughing and shouting at bums toward the staircase the led to the bright casino. Reid and Farah stood in amazement at the change in characteristic, and then looked at each other in amusement.

"Holy, I know that's Meredy, but who's she with? That can't be Keele."

Hurrying after them, the two followed Keele and Meredy into the Casino where they watched Keele jump up to a card table - greeted with a _hey everyone, the big man's here_ - and Meredy scuffle up beside him almost loyally. She slithered her arm around his and stood proudly beside him, her never-ending smile beaming over the crowds of people.

Their old Minche graduate childhood friend that spent hours pouring over Craymel books, their old socially inept robe immersed genius had turned into a Don Juan partier man.

His old white Minche signature robes he always wore had been cast aside to wear a Tinnsia-new red outfit - the signature red pocket pants along with the dark red sleeve shirt. The clothes were all baggy, and probably the smallest male size, showing how sickeningly skinny he was getting...probably from the non-stop partying and whatever else he'd been doing in his spare time. Keele had cut his long black hair short and the permanent bed-head mess showed he seemed to have forgotten it was there.

Meredy had changed drastically as well. Her long blonde hair had fallen pin-straight, and her usual kiddish outfits now had Tinnsia written all over them with her sequin short top baring her stomach and stylish black pants, stretched so tight.

Reid frowned and stepped up to the table, watching Keele's eyes count the cards as they were dealt out. He saw his mouth move in the same way he used to do when he'd been trying to solve a problem involving calculations. He watched him smirk and pull out a cigarette and a lighter. Lighting up, he nudged Meredy and she threw a handful of Gald into their pile.

"I should have known." Farah rolled her eyes and looked at Reid with a look that said _unbelievable._

Reid shrugged. "How else do you expect he managed to live a life of partying? There are two types of people in Jini: the rich cheaters and the poor sincere."

"Six hundred Gald ante!" Meredy hollered out, grinning the same childish grin she had last year, then turned her eyes from the table to where Reid and Farah stood. "Reid! Farah!"

At the familiar names, Keele shot his eyes up and as his mouth opened, he almost dropped the smoking cigarette hanging from his lips.

"Well look who it is."

As he left the table, a player hollered out something about his money. Shrugging, he pushed the pile towards the man, "ah, keep it."

The four reunited with hugs and made their way to a vacant table. Ordering drinks, Reid noted the hazy look in Keele's eyes and wondered if another drink as a good idea.

Raising the crystal glass high for a toast of reunion, Keele took a long drink. "The four of us are back again." He stopped, and his face grew somewhat serious. "Hey, this isn't another Grand Fall is it? What's the deal with travelling all the way to Celestia?"

Farah swirled her drink around and shrugged casually. "We wanted to visit. I haven't seen either of you in a year; you know I'd like to stay in touch with the people who saved Eternia with me."

Meredy smiled and leaned forward towards them. "You bet! We always want to see you!"

At mentioning the Grand Fall, memories came flooding back to Reid. At how close their worlds had been to Vatenkeist, Shizel/Nereid's dream of a perfect world, memories of the Orbus exploding, Shizel destroying the core and saving Meredy's life. And Keele...

He looked at him now, foggy-drunken eyes and that omnipresent cigarette with smoke trailing from his lips, carelessly following Meredy and Farah's conversation. It was almost a disappointment at his change of character, Keele had always been the person they relied on, when they were confused or had no where to go, he always came up with a solution.

_Ah, we'll let Keele figure it out. What do you think Keele? Now what, Keele? _He was the one who figured out the reason behind the Grand Fall, communicating with the greater Craymels…

As life-threatening as the situation had been, Reid missed their adventure more than anything. They had all been so close, sharing old childhood fears and psychological trauma, physical battles, near-death experiences.

The night went on with more drinks and Keele's two or three packs of smokes, until they decided to hit the pillow in the Inn. Reid realized that he felt woozy only after a couple shots, Keele and Meredy had grown so used of this lifestyle that Meredy had downed more than ten and Keele had too many to count, yet they seemed perfectly fine…albeit giddy.

As they left the Casino, that loud angry shout came from the bar.

"Aint you fools gonna pay for your mess! Goddamned Inferians."

Keele turned around, laughing and threw a handful of Gald at the barkeeper. Flicking his cigarette butt toward the slot machines, he grinned disturbingly. "That old bag always hollers about nothin'"

……………………………………………………………………..


	2. ii i dont need you in my life again

**A/N: **Rather drastic change in the plot, my writing style. hope you enjoy.

Again.

Farah sat up in bed again with bloodshot eyes. Anger surged through her as she heard the footsteps pound down the hallway, yet again, and since her Inn room was the last one next to the restroom, she'd been woken up more times than she could count with these footsteps.

She couldn't sleep anyway, thoughts of old memories and Reid kept flying into her mind, as well as the nauseous feeling in her stomach - reminding her how sick she got after drinking every time she moved.

A loud bang - like someone dropped something - interrupted her thoughts in the hall. It sounded like it was right outside her door. A low moan of pain from outside made her eyebrows bend in a confused frown.

"Uh?"

Standing up in bed, she opened the door of her room to see a trail of smoke, the source being a dark messy-haired figure collapsed on the floor. He squinted up at her and grinned that disturbing grin.

"Shit, I got the wrong door." Like a true addict, he left the cigarette on his lips while talking.

She raised her eyebrows at him. He was wearing pants, no shirt, and a drunken - but cute - smile. "Get up, Keele."

He pulled himself to his feet and stumbled into her room. As Farah watched his eyes run up and down her body, she blushed a dark crimson when realizing she was only wearing her red lace negligee.

She hurried toward her nightrobe, but before Farah could make it Keele had stepped in her path. "Don't worry about it," he grinned and took a long drag, "we can be half-naked together."

She straightened up at how close he was to her, the stench of smoke and alcohol emanating off of him almost made her gag. _Maybe he should leave,_ she thought. M_aybe this is a bad idea._

"It's um, really late..."

Sitting on the bed, she watched him lean against the wall and stare at her, the smoke billowing up and covering his expression, but she could tell he was still grinning.

"You know, you're a different person. If I didn't know better, I wouldn't believe I was talking to Keele Zeibel."

He shrugged carelessly, "I wasn't the happiest kid before anyway."

"Are you happy now?"

Taking the fag away from his lips he blew out the smoke thoughtfully. Looking back at her he shrugged again. "Yeah. Well, the most I remember."

She swallowed doubtfully, and a question that had been bugging her for a while popped out of her lips. "With Meredy? That isI mean, if you are..."

He grinned wider, that creepy all-knowing smirk, as if he expected this and crossed his arms.

"I'm not 'with' anyone," he laughed and took a step toward her, "are you 'with' Reid?"

Farah looked away almost bitterly. "No. I don't know. I can never tell."

She looked back at him and in the lamp light her expression softened as she noticed something...that she had expected. As her face fell, he jumped back into the darkness, but it was too late because she had already seen the lines and the scars on his wrists.

"My _god_ Keele. Gambling, drinking, smoking, fucking and now drugs. Man, you are going down one hell of a road. And don't shrug this time."

Habit forced him to shrug anyway. "They," he pointed to his crack lines, "were from a lone time ago. It wasn't that great anyway, what's with you two? You get so angry because I have a little fun." He frowned and sighed. "I mean, sorry I aint some bumbling nerd anymore, but that's life. People _change_."

Farah stood up and walked toward him, insulted but concerned. "Keele, we're not trying to ruin your fun by coming here, didn't you think of us once during the past year? _God_, we've saved millions of lives, I think we should at least keep in touch..."

Her trailing words made her look at her friend. She'd been looking at him in a totally different way ever since she saw him and Meredy explode out of the Dancehall. His nonchalant, bad-boy sex appeal new look was strangely attractive.

Maybe it was because he was so shockingly different, or different than Reid, but something compelled her to step awfully close to him as he flicked his cigarette butt into her garbage can with experienced aim.

His height made a perfect lock with her as she embraced him with a hug, his chin resting on her head and she closed her eyes as she pressed her cheek against his cold bare chest. "I missed you, you know. And I still miss the old you."

"Still in me somewhere. Jini really hits you up, y'know."

She looked up at him, his dark eyes were still a bit hazy and she understood the haziness hadn't been just alcohol, but it didn't matter. As he looked back down they locked eyes and the whole situation of being in a dark room scantily clothed hit the two of them full force.

Of course, Keele was the first to act, as drunken male reactions can go a long way. Farah let him push her backwards, staring at her in that hungry sort of way. She knew she was looking back with the same look, and wondered if all those times during the Grand Fall fear, he'd thought of this.

As they hit the bed, she grabbed the back of his neck as he kissed her, intensely, hungrily and she let a small moan out as he pinned her arms down, grinning and slowly kissed her chin, neck...

Her red lace negligee was short and tight, and their frenzy had pulled the strings on her arms down to her elbows and the bottom up high. His hands slid from pinning her arms down to her full breasts, almost exposed from his previous actions. Then down, further to her hips. She realized, almost panicking that she wasn't wearing anything underneath. He could so easily...

"Mmm...Keele..." their heavy breathing gave them a rhythmic rise and fall as Keele's lips caressed under her chin, and her mouth again. She pushed him on his back and sat on top of him, grinning as his hands automatically grabbed her tush and pushed her in place and she could feel him through his pants. Her negligee was so short.

_What am I doing_, she thought. _This is Keele. KEELE I'm going to_

She pulled herself off of him, sitting on the side of the bed anxiously.

"What?" His voice was still low and husky.

She wrapped her arms around herself and bit her lip nervously. "I don't think this a good idea."

Keele jumped off the bed and walked around in front of her. His eyes were more open in confusion and he grabbed her shoulder. "You can't just do that, Farah, that's kinda mean..."

She shook him off of her and stood up. "I feel too guilty. I can't explain it, maybe you should just leave."

She could hear his voice from behind her. "I thought you said you aint with Reid."

"I'm not." She turned around, angry with the mention of his name. "I'm not." She closed her eyes when she looked at him, trying to block out what she almost just done. She had wanted to, so bad...

"Just go back to your room or something."

"Fuckin' weird." She heard a shuffle and the door opening and closing, but kept her eyes shut. Was she with Reid? No, they'd never talked or anything, she was sure he didn't consider them together.

Then why did she feel so guilty with Keele? Like she was being watched, or caught, when she could have had one hell of a night.

Closing her eyes tighter, she fell back on the bed feeling humiliated, unsatisfied and guilty.

And all she could fuckin' hear was that clomp clomp clomp of someone walking down the hallway.

**Shot out of ideas now, but I'll think of something soon in the next week.  
(March 21, 2005) Sorry for the unfinished story :(**


	3. iii addicted

……………………….

"feel your deepest dreams inside  
take a breath and clear your mind  
the music lets you take control  
in your body and your soul  
**united and hardcore 'till we die  
**spread your arms and you will fly  
then save the moment deep inside."

hard issues coming up. never do drugs, mates.

……………………..

The door slammed shut, and while dark eyes adjusted to the darkness he wondered regretfully if he'd woken the sleeping figure in his bed.

Stumbling, drunk and confused, he wandered over to the side of the hotel bed. He watched her for a few seconds, her long blond hair spilling over the sheets in a messy state of sleep. Her eyes were closed and a small, almost permanent smile lay on her lips. So familiar, and that sort of recognition made him sigh in relief.

Closing his eyes and collapsing beside the bed, he rested his head on the side of the sheets. Confusion and cloudy recent memories whirled around in his head at what the hell had just happened. Shaking them away, he sighed.

"...the _hell_?" Did that just happen? Did anything really happen?

Keele stood up and rubbed his eyes with his palms. As he opened them, familiar glances hit the desk by the window. A container with product left-over, a spoon, a lighter and a needle lay there as if waiting.

He shot a look toward the bed, and then back at the desk. _Meredy, high. Meredy, desk. Meredy, trip._ Shrugging, he figured _both_ and ambled over to the desk. Pouring some of the dark powder on the spoon, he lit the lighter and watched in alcohol-induced fascination as the powder melted on the metal, giving a metallic glow in the dark. Keele hadn't used Optios - as the Celestians called it - very much, as earlier that day he'd injected himself with a similar - but more energetic drug.

But Keele had researched the effects of each, his old side coming out from nowhere and sucking the information up like bees to honey. He saved Optios for trying to sleep, since it gave him a relaxed, drowsy - but pleasant - feeling.

Even though there was about a 50 chance the seller had thrown in some "goey" - a term he'd picked up on to mean a drug causing increased brain activity, increased desire to have sex and complete dehydration.

Looking away, Keele plunged the needle into his most commonly used vein and pushed the syringe all the way. As he laid the needle down, he felt the rush of pleasant euphoria rush over him and he grinned in the darkness. He sat there for a while, relaxing in the feeling before he was shaken by a cry in the room.

"There is no need, Keele..."

It was her soft innocent voice again. He shrugged, even though she couldn't see him and pretended not to hear her. He turned the other way, out the window when he heard her shuffle and climb out of the bed.

He jumped as she touched his skinny cold arm and frustration clouded his eyes. "So relaxing here." He mumbled and stood up.

She walked toward him and tugged on his arm. "Come on, Keele! We cannot stay in Jini much longer." As she embraced him and wrapped her arms around his skinny waist, an intense memory flew into his head.

_Him. Her. Standing in Inferia. She had jumped on him, hugging him after he'd fallen down._ The uncomfortable, embarrassing feeling shot into his present mind, and he pushed her off of him.

"What are you doing? Get off of me!"

He jumped back, hitting the window. He clutched onto the windowsill and crouched, in panic. _What am I doing here, I should be researching the change in the Grobule Distortion, that dark matter, I'm wasting my time sleeping, and what is this person doing…_

He jumped up and pushed her aside. Panicking, he couldn't remember where he was. _The grand fall...?_ Grabbing the sides of his head, he raced to the closet where he'd thrown all his books and work.

"I have to...my work on light craymelology...I can't remember..." Grabbing boxes, he pulled books out and began rummaging through them desperately.

"Keele what are you doing? You must be calm,"

Meredy rushed to his side and grabbed his arm. In anger, he pushed her away and growled as she fell back on the floor hard. Letting a cry out, he heard her coming toward him again and he turned around, furious.

"Go away! I have to ..." _I have to what? I have to ... I can't remember anything I studied at Minche! What's wrong with me?_ Panic and fear flew through him and all he could feel was her shaking him. His eyes flew around the room and he couldn't focus on anything except her shaking. He could feel himself breathing so hard, so hard that he felt as though he was suffocating. _How can I suffocate from breathing! _

She was saying something, but it was distorted and made no sense. He couldn't get a firm grasp on her hands that were tightly clenched to his shoulders. Finally, he pushed her off of him in a strong thrust that sent her flying into the wall.

She pulled herself up, "Keele?" She was staring at him in fear.

_Fear_? He frowned and took a step toward her. She moved away, and this frustrated him even more. _This is my...she shouldn't be scared of me_. So many things were flying around in his mind. He couldn't keep control. Couldn't think…think…think….flashing memories and color were whirling in front of him. _THIS.ISN'T.RIGHT._

She began walking backward and hit the chair attached to the desk. The impact knocked his needle and he watched it roll down the table and fall to the floor.

It smashed in a thousand little pieces and he heard himself shout in anger. "No! You stupid fuck, now I have to go get a new one!" He snarled and grabbed her arms. Anger surged through him, and he tried to concentrate on _something. Anything._ Somehow, they were pinned against the wall, Meredy struggling to get away, crying in fear.

"This is not Keele!" She shouted at him, and he growled in confusion again. "You do not need another one."

He threw her to the side, and immediately regretted it when he heard her cry in pain when she hit the side of the bed hard. He tried to turn to her, but his energy had depleted so fast and he was falling.

Collapsing on the floor, he felt himself fading in and out of consciousness. He tried to keep his eyes open, and even when he did they would fade to black, then outline silhouettes, then color...he could feel something wet on his chest and mumbled something in confusion.

A loud noise floated around him and he couldn't determine exactly what it was. It was so hard to concentrate, but after a short time a blast of energy hit him and he was able to open his eyes and hear properly. The loud noise he recognized as crying. He opened his eyes to see Meredy bent over him, sobbing loudly and saying his name.

"Huh..?"

He mumbled, and sort of smiled as she gasped and turned toward him. As they exchanged looks, Keele could still hear the unsaid message in her teary eyes.

_Please stop. _

They used to do this all the time, back when they were trying to stop the Grand Fall. At first Keele had figured and hypothesized it was something to do with her Elara, but in the end he'd thrown that theory aside and just assumed they knew each other too well. He closed his eyes to get away from her pain filled eyes, bleeding tears all over the floor and tried to figure this all out in his head.

"_Meredy misses the old Keele."_

In truth, so did he. But as the sun rose and fell, and everyday he saw less and less of the beautiful Celestian sunrise and sunset and more of the wild nights and needle plungers, he knew Meredy would never see the 'old Keele' again. How many times he had tried, for her sake, to throw away the old habits, to go through a day without talking to the drug dealers on the sides of the streets.

But vicious circles never end. The dealers began to know him on a regular basis, the gamblers began questioning him when he didn't show, and the pain in his head began to eat away at him every time he missed a hit.

He wondered, sometimes, how much she knew. She would sometimes stare at him with a sad, hopeless look, as if his emotions were playing out though her face. But he would shrug it off, drink another bottle and try to forget it.

Pulling himself to sit upright, he clinched a hold of her hands. "Someday, things will be back to normal."

But Keele could only theorize a one way ticket out. And to take that ticket would mean to lose Meredy forever.

……………………………

**April 4th, 2005**

The next one will be Meredy's thoughts, as you may have noticed it was Reid, then Farah, and Keele, so … yeah. I have an idea :D


End file.
